Background: Al-Dura was the boy about whose faked death the Palestinian Authority fabricated a tale of murder by the IDF. The French government TV channel broadcast staged scenes from segments of film that slandered the IDF. The slander sped around the world and greatly injured Israelâ€™s reputation, though the PLO often has staged fake Israeli atrocities.

By contrast, Israeli investigation crawled. Israel hardly defended its reputation. Private investigators found aspects of the accusations dubious and then false. Philippe Karsenty explained the slanders, but was accused by the French TV industry of slandering them. The issue dragged through the courts.

News Part: When it became known that a judicial decision was coming, the French TV station, Canal +, replayed the â€œdocumentary.â€ Mr. Karsenty considers that a bid to sway public opinion and therefore the court.

Nevertheless the court ruled the Canal + documentary defamatory and the journalist filmmaker not objective despite having sufficient information to get the story straight.

The documentary has this to say about Mr. Karsenty:

"Faking information";

Pressuring journalists in order that they self censor themselves";

Manipulating the information in order to promote extremist political views without any interest in the truth";

Using the internet to dupe, falsify facts and to serve a cause and promote a despicable ideology";

"Using all sorts of strategies and unfair practices to attain my objectives";

"Threatening journalists in order to prevent them to reveal some information".

This case upheld freedom of the press. However, the French media, which because it generally upheld the al-Dura hoax, has been proved prejudiced, continues disseminating antisemitic material (IMRA, 6/11/10).
I followed the case. Mr. Karsenty did a professional job of forensic analysis. Notice how far some in the French media go to commit fraud and smear dissent. Should a French company combine the power of the media with the power and pride of government?

Initial suspicion that the film was staged arose, because: (1) Its possessors refused to let others see more than a small segment of it; (2) Al-Dura was seen moving after he supposedly was shot dead and not ever again, no autopsy, nothing; (3) No blood was visible; and (4) The position of the IDF did not permit it to fire at the boy. The boy was in a direct line of fire from the PLO gunmen.

Objective people would realize that the Israeli troops were busy saving themselves from armed gunmen, and in any case it is not their practice to aim at civilians. It is jihadist practice to aim at civilians and capitalize upon casualties of their own civilians.

I recall a scene of an alleged IDF atrocity staged poorly, some years ago. Around the edge of the crowd of actors, Arab bystanders were smiling at the entertaining hoax. The media gets taken in suspiciously easily. So do investigators for the UN and Human Rights Watch. France declares IDF slaying of Palestinian Arab boy a hoax